Buffalo to host two world championships in 2015

Submitted

IIHF Under-18 Women's Worlds and IPC Ice Sledge Hockey
Worlds to be played at HARBORCENTER

USA Hockey announced today it would
bring two major world championships to Buffalo in 2015, with both being staged
at the soon-to-be-completed HARBORCENTER.

From Jan. 4-12, 2015, the eighth
annual International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 Women's World Championship
will take center stage in Buffalo with the top eight nations in the world
competing to win the gold medal.

Then, from April 24-May 2, the
International Paralympic Committee Ice Sledge Hockey World Championship will be
contested with eight nations vying for the coveted gold medal.

"We're extremely pleased to bring
these two world championships to HARBORCENTER," said Dave Ogrean,
executive director of USA Hockey. "The athletes and fans will be treated to a
state-of-the-art facility in an area where hockey is an everyday passion.
Between the HARBORCENTER and Sabres staff, the local community and our terrific
New York affiliate, we have an infrastructure in place that will ensure an
outstanding experience for everyone involved."

"To have the opportunity to host
two world championships in the span of four months is terrific not only for
HARBORCENTER, but also our community," said John Koelmel, president of
HARBORCENTER. "We're proud of the confidence USA Hockey has in us, and we look
forward to welcoming athletes and fans from across the world."

"A strong relationship with
USA Hockey is important to us," said Ted Black, president of the
Buffalo Sabres. "And we're excited to bring these two world-class events
to Buffalo and HARBORCENTER. We'll work hard to have visitors leaving these
events excited to come back."

HARBORCENTER, which is slated to
open in downtown Buffalo in early October, includes two ice sheets, each
200-bu-85, as well as 11 locker rooms. The main arena has seating for 1,800,
while the second rink has a capacity of 500.

The IIHF Under-18 Women's World
Championship will feature teams from the U.S., Canada, Czech Republic and
Russia in Group A and Finland, Sweden, Japan and Switzerland in Group B. Team
USA, which has played in the gold-medal game in each of the first seven
editions of the event, has captured the event's top prize three times (2008,
2009, 2011).

"It's exciting to bring the
Under-18 Women's World Championship to HARBORCENTER," said Reagan Carey,
director of women's hockey for USA Hockey and general manager for the 2015 U.S.
Women's National Under-18 Team. "Fans will have a unique opportunity to see the
best athletes in the world compete for a gold medal."

The IIHF Under-18 Women's World
Championship has been conducted in the U.S. on just one other occasion, that in
2010 in Woodridge, Illinois, at Seven Bridges Ice Arena.

The IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World
Championship will be staged for the eighth time in 2015. The event, which
showcases the world's best sled hockey teams, was played for the first time in
1996 and also conducted in 2000, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2013.

The U.S., which has captured the
world championship gold medal on two occasions (2009, 2012), has hosted the
event twice previously. In 2000, the U.S. finished sixth in Salt Lake City,
Utah, while in 2008 Team USA captured the bronze medal in Marlborough,
Massachusetts.

"Buffalo has such a rich history
in sled hockey and it will be terrific to have the world championship in the
brand-new HARBORCENTER," said Dan Brennan, general manager of the 2015
U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. "Fans will see amazing athletes in an extremely
competitive environment."

Full details surrounding both
world championships, including schedules and ticket information, will be
released at a later date.

Two members of the gold
medal-winning 2014 U.S. Paralympic sled hockey team are from the Buffalo area,
including Lancaster native and two-time Paralympian Adam Page, as well as
Buffalo's Paul Schaus.

The U.S. became the first nation
to capture back-to-back gold medals in sled hockey at the Paralympic Winter
Games when it beat host Russia in the 2014 Paralympic title game. NBC televised
the contest live to mark the first-ever live broadcast of a Paralympic sled
hockey gold medal game in the U.S.